Wharton’s Entire San Francisco Campus Earns LEED Gold Certification

Not just one building, but the entire campus of Wharton's San Francisco facility was recently awarded with LEED Gold for Commercial Interiors certification. The campus expanded the prestigious school's presence on the west coast by moving into the 6th floor of the historic Hills Brothers Coffee Plant on the Embarcadero, and has been adding to its eco-accolades ever since. Designed by Gensler, the sustainable renovation of the space into a word-class teaching facility definitely schools some of the other buildings in the city with eco-conscious materials, a green cleaning program and locally-sourced food for the cafeteria.

Sited close to the Bay Bridge with views out over the water, Wharton’s new San Francisco campus is also conveniently located near public transit. The school offers up graduate level classes and an expanded MBA program in a high tech, digital learning environment. Rather than constructing a new facility, the school opted to renovate and adapt aa floor in the former Hills Brothers Coffee Plant, a 1920s Romanesque Revival facility featuring brick walls and arched walkways and doors. If it weren’t for the views of the Bay Bridge, you might think you were in a historic east coast school. The building and original sign are also national landmarks.

Gensler designed the adaptive reuse of the 37,000 sq ft facility, which includes state-of-the-art group study rooms and amphitheater-style classrooms with HD video conferencing for broadcasts of networking events, speaker series and classes back to Philadelphia and across the world. The entire project was recently awarded LEED Gold certification for its interiors. During construction, 80% of the waste was diverted from landfills and upgrades included a strong focus on daylighting, the use of locally-sourced and eco-friendly materials as well as the installation of energy-efficient lighting, equipment and systems. The janitorial staff exclusively uses green cleaning products and the campus features a recycling and composting program. Food for the on -site eateries is locally sourced from within 100 miles and many of the offerings are made from scratch daily.